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Why Curry Up Now CEO prefers kiosks over mobile app
A panel of technology pioneers at the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit in Louisville discussed issues such as kiosk integration with mobile orders, impact on labor, cash acceptance, impact on human interaction, serving alcohol and the viability of "build-your-own" options.
March 20, 2019 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times
Self-order technology represents one of the fastest growing offerings in fast casual restaurants today, promising customers a convenient and accurate ordering experience. While more restaurants are adopting the technology, a host of questions remain concerning self-order kiosks and online orders.
A panel of technology self-service pioneers at the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit in Louisville last week addressed issues such as kiosk integration with mobile orders, impact on labor, cash acceptance, impact on human interaction, serving alcohol and the viability of "build-your-own" options.
For Curry Up Now, with six restaurants in San Francisco and plans for 41 more as part of a nationwide franchise push, kiosks play an important role in the company's plans to go cashless this year, said Akash Kapoor, company founder and CEO. Kapoor hopes to eventually have 40-50 percent of his orders placed on kiosks.
"The kiosk doesn't make mistakes and shows our food very well," said Kapoor, who installed his first kiosk two years ago.
The kiosk also does a good job of allowing new customers to view the full menu and the nutritional information, he said.
Integrating kiosks and mobile orders
The integration of kiosks and mobile orders was a subject of great interest among the panelists. While mobile ordering is increasing, the panelists were uncertain how prevalent it will become since the customer has to register on the restaurant's website or download an app.
Kapoor said he expects both kiosk and online ordering to grow, but kiosks have the advantage of not requiring the customer to register in advance or download an app. His restaurant no longer has an app.
Derin Alemli, founder and CEO of Chicago-based Square Roots Kitchen, agreed that only a minority of customers will download an app, but said the app is a better customer retention tool for those customers that do download it. He said 10 percent of his customers have downloaded his app.
Randy Gier, CEO of NRG Restaurant Group, which owns Tampa, Florida-based Burger Monger, said he believes kiosks and online ordering will both be important benefits for his company, which is in the early stage of introducing the technologies.
Impact on labor
The impact on employee headcount has not been the problem that some observers initially thought, the panelists said.
Panel moderator Kris Bartel, chief business development officer at Zivelo, a kiosk provider, said self-order kiosks deliver 20-40 percent ticket "lift," which often results in a bigger need for back-of-the-house labor. Hence, he said kiosks result in more of a reallocation than a replacement of labor.
"We're not replacing service, we're enhancing service," Gier said.
While kiosks may not be replacing labor, operators still have to respond to the perception that they are. Alemli said he makes the argument that kiosks allow employees to do a "higher-grade" job that pays them better. He said the employee ends up spending less time on routine tasks and more time on customer service.
Kapoor argues that he has no employees to replace, which runs consistent with the country's low unemployment. Curry Up Now has a 20 to 25 percent help shortage in each store, he said.
Impact on human interaction, worker morale
The fact that automation removes the store employee from the experience raised the question of how to maintain the human connection in the store.
Alemli said Eatsa restaurants, which exclusively use self-order kiosks, still have an employee in the restaurant to help customers if needed. Hence, he has opted to have a greeter on hand.
"There is still a human connection," Alemli said. "There are just fewer humans in the store."
The impact on employee morale has been positive, the panelists said.
While Burger Monger has not introduced its kiosks yet, Gier said the employees have actually welcomed the idea, which is the opposite of what he expected. His goal is to encourage employees to view the kiosk as a way to please the customer.
"Everybody wants to help," he said.
Alemli agreed, saying his employees welcomed not having to deal directly with customers. They also appreciated the improved order accuracy the kiosks delivered.
When introducing the kiosk, Alemli said it was necessary to have employees on hand to educate them.
One issue with kiosks that Kapoor said he needs to work on is that customers tend to spend more time exploring the menu when using a kiosk, which can create a line.
Loyalty integration and other issues
When asked how to incorporate loyalty programs with kiosks, the panelists did not offer any firsthand experiences to share. Kiosks can, however, can integrate customer loyalty programs.
When the question of whether there will still be a need for table-ordering came up, the panelists said there will still be situations where this will be necessary, such as very busy locations such as airports.
The recent legislative initiative to ban cashless stores was raised by one listener as a possible impediment to self-order kiosks. Local governments, such as Philadelphia and New York City, have either passed or introduced laws requiring stores to accept cash because some consumers still rely exclusively on cash.
Bartel said it is possible for kiosks to accept cash, although he acknowledged there are security issues related to cash. Alemli said he considered having cash acceptance on his kiosks but decided against it because of the cost.
The panelists held mixed views on the viability of having a "build your own" option with kiosks.
Gier said it would take a customer a lot of time to "build their own" with a kiosk, but Alemli and Kapoor both said they are doing it, and without any problem. Alemli said he has an employee on site to help customers with questions.
How to best alert the customer when their order is ready was also discussed. Kapoor said guests sometimes don't know which order is theirs. Bartel said one method is for the kiosk to provide a receipt that has a code on it.
Alcohol presents another issue. Bartel said an employee has to be on hand to authorize an alcohol purchase.
Asked how to decide what technology to invest in, Alemli said he considers it if it adds value for the customer and provides ease of use. Gier said he determines what to invest in by testing technology in the field.
About Elliot Maras
Elliot Maras is the editor of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times. He brings three decades covering unattended retail and commercial foodservice.
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